Miyavi- THIZ IZ THE JAPANESE KABUKI ROCK TOUR 2008

Alright, first of all this doesn't talk so much about the show itself, but my experience as I was there. To some it will probably be boring, but I hope you find it interesting! I'd love to read about what others did while they were there and what they thought of the show!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

MIYAVI @ Slims 5/18 & 5/19

I attended both of the San Francisco shows at Slim's on Miyavi's This IZ THE JAPANESE KABUKI ROCK TOUR 2008. My friends Momo, Kassy, Bella, and I hopped on the Amtrak from the Fresno area all the way to SF on the 17th, the day before the first concert wast to be taken place. Needless to say, I experienced complete nausea and anxiety while aboard the train, but I figured it was all worth it and the sickness would pass. We reached SF by bus and got off at the Pier. From there we too a cab, in which the cab driver completely tried to rip us off, and got to our hotel downtown. The place was called "Travelodge" near/on Market street, I can't really remember, but I DO NOT recommend that anybody stay there! The staff was incredibly rude and completely overcharged us for our stay. They even happened to block a large amount of money from my friend's credit card account. The rooms were small, noisy, and didn't have much to offer. Seeing as it was too late to switch hotels, we decided to stick it out since we wouldn't be staying there much anyway. After we checked in and got things sorted out, we headed to Japantown by foot. Yes, it wasn't very far, but because of the fact that it was a mile uphill we got there completely exhausted! We visited Kinokuniya for a bit and wandered around for an hour or so, then decided to head back.
Momo and I woke up around 4 or 5am the next morning. We got ready, woke the others, and decided to head out and get in line! I was incredibly shocked that the line was so short! From my experience at many of the Jrock shows in LA, I was expecting it to be much longer. There were only about 9 or 10 people ahead of us. We planted ourselves on the pavement and waited...waited...and waited. Sometime later that afternoon a few vehicles pulled up at the entrance of the club. The drivers inside seemed to be waiting for something and the people in line were all curious. Soon enough, Miyavi himself stepped out of one the cars, waved to his fans, and rushed inside! I can't even explain to you how loud the screaming was! I just remember my friend Kassy jerking me up by my wrist in excitement and pointing to the door!
It was around 5pm when people started to become very impatient. It was freezing cold and we could hear Miyavi rehearsing inside the club. One of my BEST friends Yukiki showed up, which I was extremely excited about because it was the first time we had met in person. I'm sorry Yukiki, but I must say this.....so cute!!! Your kimono outfit was stunning!!...
Anyway, about an hour later the staff started coming around checking ID's and what-not and FINALLY the line started to move! They searched us (something I wasn't particularly happy about because I felt somewhat violated), stamped us, and we rushed inside! Luckily we were close enough to the left side stage that we were able to stand on the first three steps and see everything clearly. DJ Tetsu was extremely cute and entertaining. He got the crowd pumped up by playing some AMAZING Jrock tunes and then a while after he walked offstage a giant projection came on playing the intro to Miyavi's "Hi no hikari sae todokanai kono basho de". The music began and then people started to scream. It was insane! I suddenly felt a rush of excitement overtake me and I knew I was in for an amazing show! Miyavi seemed to float onstage wearing his purple kimono-like outfit and everyone went crazy!
Towards the middle of the show people started to push and shove more than neccessary and the people towards the front were being pressed up against the railing finding it hard to breathe. I had the same problem although I was two rows back. People were holding hands above my head trying to pull each other up front and a group of guys tried to shove me out of the way but I somehow resisted. I was especially concerned about my friend Momo seeing as how she's a very fragile girl (probably around 70 lbs or so) and it was her first Jrock show. I kept my arms planted around her waist through half of the concert, not wanting her to fall down like the poor victim in front of us who toppled over when the crowed shifted. I think Miyavi somewhat noticed this onstage and asked the audience to back-up and give people room. It was incredibly sweet! I've never seen anyone do that, so it really touched me that he cared about his fans so much.
The first show ended and everyone seemed to be completely energized. Momo and I happened to get separated from the rest of our group, so we decided to at least "try" and get in line to buy our tour goods. It was way too long and clustered together, so seeing as how Momo has this incredible ability to just weasle her way in anywhere, I sent her off with my money and she bought our things. We tried to find the rest of our group and I ran into Yukiki who generously offered us a ride home (I love you for this! I really wasn't looking forward to walking back to the hotel at midnight with drug addicts and shady people standing around every corner). At first we were thinking of getting right back in line after the show had ended, so Momo and I got in the car and left for the hotel. We had a difficult time remembering where it was and got lost! Then suddenly I remembered this waffle-shaped wall that happened to stand nearby and when we passed it I immediately remembered where we were! We made a turn and suddenly we were somehow going the wrong way on a one-way street! It was hilarious! Luckily there was no traffic since it was late at night and all the concert go-ers were most likely still back at the club. When we got to the hotel, I asked Momo for the key and she just looked at me and said "I don't have it, Kassy does." We were exhausted, yet had to make the trip back to Slim's to pick up the key, which was a good thing becasue my other friends decided to just go back and get in line really early the next morning since there were a lot of shady people wandering around the area. All four of us then piled up into the back of Yukiki and David's car. It looked like one of those clown cars you see on tv! They dropped us off, we said our goodbyes (I really wish we had more time to hang out) and went to bed. Early the next morning I woke up incredibly sore! It wasn't so much the concert becasue I'm used to that, but I somehow managed to get really bad windburn from it being so cold and my skin ached! Tell me how this happens because I had no clue that it even existed until now!
We all got ready and walked back to the club at around 7am the next morning. The line was even shorter than before. People didn't start arriving until about noon time. We took the covers from our hotel with us and laid them out on the floor where we were in line (hey, the hotel staff hadn't been the least bit nice to us so I figured why not take their covers?). Momo fell asleep and as random people passed by they told me I was crazy for not having a sweater, since to them it was freezing. After a while Momo and I got hungry so we left Kassy and Bella in line as we walked off to this place small cafe' at an intersection nearby. To my surprise the food was really good and they had a large selection. I was satisfied. We got back in line and tried to pass the time by laughing and joking about our experiences in SF thus far. Hours eventually passed and the club let us in. We happened to get front row this time! I was so excited about it, my patience had diminished and I found myself dancing and singing along to the music in the backround. The show started and Miyavi had many of the same songs on his setlist as the night before, with the exception of a few at the end. He played "We love you" in which the audience held up these adorable cards with his name in Kanji as well as the world shaped like a pink heart. When people pulled them out and started to wave them around, his face lit up. He seemed extremely touched!
I can honestly say this was one of the best concerts I've ever been to in my life! Miyavi's interaction with the audience was just amazing and everyone seemed to be having a fun time! I think this will remain in my memory for the rest of my life.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


Okay, this is probably my very first review so be nice. I hope it wasn't too boring, but it was what I experienced while I was there. Hopefully everyone had fun! I know I did!